Invisible Train
by hummerhouse
Summary: April O'Neil recounts her experiences during a London visit to Head Archivist Jonathan Sims of The Magnus Institute. Written for MomoRawrr as part of the Show Your Love event. My first ever crossover fic. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles / The Magnus Archives.


Invisible Train  
for MomoRawrr

"Statement of April O'Neil regarding her experiences in the London underground. Statement taken directly from subject eleventh November, two thousand seventeen. Audio recording by Jonathan Sims, head archivist of the Magnus Institute, London. Statement begins."

There was a pause, and then another voice began speaking. It was a youthful sounding woman with an American accent.

"I suppose the first thing I should say is that I'm visiting London with a few friends. I've done a fair amount of sightseeing, both during the day and at night. My friends are . . . rather unique in appearance and prefer not to be seen by people.

"Because of that, they usually sleep during the day and move around after dark. They're brothers. We're from New York and are used to traveling by subway, so it didn't take us long to figure out how to get around.

"The first time we noticed anything out of the ordinary was when we were returning to the Tower Hotel where we were staying. It was late, probably around one in the morning. We'd visited a pub for a drink and a meal, sitting in a back booth to people watch. I enjoyed it a lot and wasn't looking forward to stepping back out into the London chill, but the pub was thinning out and we didn't want to draw a lot of attention to ourselves.

"We all wore coats against the chill and went down into the King's Cross Underground Station. There weren't a lot of other people around, which I suppose is the reason I took such notice of the man with the briefcase. I remember wondering where he worked since he was either leaving really late, or going in very early.

"Then I saw that he had a small piece of paper in his hand and kept referring to it. Each time he did, he'd then look down the track, as though expecting the train at any moment. I thought that was odd since the schedule said it would be a good ten minutes before the next train arrived.

"My friends saw that I was watching the man so they began to watch him too. After a few minutes, we heard the sound of an approaching train. My friend, Donatello, said that it must be running early, so we looked down the tracks.

"There was no train, though I swear that we could hear the distinct sounds of one braking. A moment later the sounds were gone. When we stepped back to look around, it seemed as if none of the other people in the station had heard anything amiss, because they were all exactly as we'd last seen them. There was one noticeable exception though; the man with the briefcase was gone.

"It was odd, but then our train did arrive and I thought no more about it. None of us did, until a couple of nights later, when we were once more awaiting a train at King's Cross. This time it was an older woman, wearing a slightly tattered coat and a very weary expression. My gaze would have passed right over her, except that she was holding a small piece of paper, identical in size and color to the one the briefcase man had held.

"Leonardo, one of the brothers, commented on it and I realized that he'd spotted the woman too. Her behavior was much the same as the man's had been; she'd study the paper and then look down the track.

"This time our train arrived while she was still there. Most of the other people in the station boarded the train, but she made no move to do so. We waited until the last possible moment to enter our train and just as the doors were closing, caught the sound of a train coming in from the opposite direction.

"I remember thinking that she was on the wrong side and would have to run around to the crossover if she was going to catch her train. Ours started and I looked out the window behind us so that I could catch a glimpse of the other train, but nothing was there.

"When I said as much to my friends, Raphael looked for the woman, but she was no longer on the platform.

"The oddity of it all stayed with us. Our plans for the next night took us nowhere near King's Crossing, but we decided that we'd go there the night after.

"I have to explain here that my friends have a . . . a law enforcement background. Private law enforcement."

"Private detectives?" Sims asked.

"Something like that," Ms. O'Neil replied before returning to her story. "We waited until nearly one a.m. before going to King's Crossing Station. It was this past Friday, the third. I didn't know about The Magnus Institute until this week when I asked a bartender at the Star of Kings pub if he knew anything of odd occurrences at the station. He referred me to your Institute.

"Anyway, back to that night. A little after one a young man entered the station carrying both a guitar case and one of those small pieces of paper. As soon as we saw what he was holding, we changed our position so that we could remain near the man. My friends tried to talk me into staying back, as they are more used to action than I, but by this time I was too curious and refused.

"Michelangelo, the fourth of the brothers, reminded me that curiosity killed the cat, but I countered that satisfaction brought him back. I was a little on edge at that point and was probably sharper than I meant to be. He just shrugged and didn't try to argue further. Besides, Raph told him that I'd been training and that I . . . never mind, I'm getting off subject.

"Anyway, we were quite close to the young man when the invisible train sounds reached us. I call it the invisible train, but that night we could see it quite clearly. I've concluded that our proximity to the man allowed us to see what he was seeing. The other people at the station seemed to take no note of the train, or even of us.

"The man looked up at the markings on the side of the train, nodded once, and entered. We counted to ten and then hopped on as well; I say hopped because that's what we literally had to do. After the man was on board, the train seemed not to want any other passengers.

"There were no other passengers in that carriage, and no sign of the young man. The carriage itself was rather dusty, which was odd because I've yet to step into a train car in London that wasn't well kept.

"It was completely silent. There was no music and though the train was moving, we could only hear the muted rumble of the wheels turning on the tracks. Don commented on that, talking about the structure of the train and how sound proofing wasn't possible. He's extremely smart and if he states something as fact, then it is.

"Leo said that we would check the next carriage for the man, so we started walking. He took the lead, with Raph bringing up the rear, just behind me. I was noticing more weird things as we walked. The windows were dirtier than they had seemed before, with a thin layer of dry earth on their edges. Everywhere I looked was covered in grime, even the floor, which was muddy. I could see my footprints and those of my friends, but no other pair of shoe prints in the mud in front of us.

"The train felt as though it was moving fast, faster than other trains we'd taken. It was just a feeling since we couldn't really gauge the speed, but we all noticed. We were going towards the front of the train because Leo said that he had a gut instinct that was where the man had gone. I've learned over the years to trust my friends' instincts.

"We reached the door and ignored the signs telling us not to open them. When Leo pushed the door open, dirt fell all around it.

"Raph reminded me to watch my step as we crossed the gap, as it was slick with mud. The walls of the tunnel flew past, and rather than the cables and support beams normally seen in the Underground, it was bare earth.

"I was glad to step into the next carriage; that was until I saw that it was even filthier than the preceding one. Mike immediately said that we should go back. He has a kind of radar when it comes to scary situations, which his brothers tend to ignore. This was one of those times I wished they'd listened to him, but I didn't realize that until later.

"We were halfway across the empty carriage when I noticed that instead of silence, there was an odd creaking groan. It sounded as if it was coming from the train itself, as if it was suffering under some immense strain. I decided that the overall eeriness of the situation was making me fanciful.

"Don had an odd expression on his face and kept looking up as we marched forward towards the next carriage. When we got to the door, it took the combined efforts of Leo and Mike to force it open. Mike nearly fell into the space between carriages, but Leo caught hold of his belt and pulled him back.

"I started to feel a kind of deep terror creeping along my spine as I crossed over to the next carriage. The tunnel walls were closer and the smell of damp earth was quite strong.

"What I saw in the next carriage did nothing to assuage my growing fear. I looked up first thing, because I saw that Donatello had stopped to do so. The ceiling seemed to have buckled a little in a few places and there were large dents dotting the metal. It was darker than the previous carriages as many of the lights and windows were broken.

"Don drew his brothers' notice to that, and to the fact that the entire carriage seemed to be slightly bent and warped. He said that the sound we were hearing, which was louder in this carriage, was of metal fatigue.

"I suddenly had a mental image of a train hurtling forward into an ever shrinking tunnel. Mike spoke that thought aloud, as he'd apparently had it at the same time as I.

"The young man wasn't in this carriage either, though his guitar case was. Lying on a seat, it was covered in mud, as though it had lain there for weeks. Looking around, we also found the first man's briefcase and the woman's coat and purse, all in similar dirty states.

"I'd like to admit something here. I consider myself to be a brave woman. I've faced a fair amount of evil people and weird situations in my life, and I've handled them. But right then, looking down at that poor woman's purse, I wanted nothing more than to get off of that train.

"I didn't say anything though because Leonardo had that look on his face, the determined one that means he is going to get answers. Mike had no trouble verbalizing his trepidations, he never does.

"Raph saw Leo's expression and told Mike that there were at least three people on the train in need of their help. That was that; decision made. We were going into the next carriage.

"I asked Don how many carriages there might still be between us and the driver. He'd taken note of the carriage we'd entered, and said that there was two more. He also said that we might not be able to reach him. He didn't need to say why.

"Getting that next door open was nearly impossible. The frame was so warped by outside pressures that the door was sort of partially hanging open. Raph pushed past me to get to the door and took a good grip on the door's edge. He's the body builder of the group and very strong. Raph ripped the door off its hinges and was going to toss it aside, but Don stopped him. Don took the door and wedged it sideways under the frame, saying that it would help to keep the entry from collapsing.

"The sections of the train ahead of us were scraping the walls of the tunnel and mud flew at us as we crossed the space to the next carriage. It was surreal and I had to pinch myself to be certain I wasn't dreaming. No manhandling was necessary with the next door, it had popped open at some point during the trip and was barely hanging on.

"Every light in that section was shattered. The walls were buckling inwards as was the entire ceiling. Dirt and mud was everywhere, and in the low light I could make out odd shapes in the shadows, which turned out to be the broken and bent seats.

"Don gasped and stopped so suddenly that I ran into his sh . . . back. He always carries a flashlight and was shining it ahead of us.

"A large, misshapen object stood between us and the next door. Because the ceiling was now so low from the weight of the tunnel pressing in on it, the object was sprawling rather than tall. It stretched from one side of the carriage to the other and was so covered in mud that I only caught glimpses of something white shining periodically through the muck.

"With a start I noticed that it was moving, turning and twisting in on itself like some giant, writhing snake. Each movement shook some of the mud off but more fell through from an opening in the ceiling, keeping it covered.

"A sound from Leo pulled my eyes off of the thing and onto the three bodies slumped over the broken seats near it. They were completely lifeless and had a strange flat look to them, like only their skin remained.

"It was then I realized that the thing before us was entirely comprised of bone.

"A wave of nausea hit me and I had to turn my head. Don's voice was choked as he said that they needed to check the people to be certain they were dead. I wanted to catch hold of his arm to stop him, but I wasn't fast enough. My feet seemed frozen in place so I didn't follow and Raph had to squeeze around me in order to join his brothers.

"I finally found my voice but my first words were just an odd croak produced by vocal chords numb with fear. My second attempt produced a warning for them not to get too close to the wriggling object that I had guessed was responsible for the peoples' fate.

"Don was carrying a long . . . stick that he'd picked up on our way to the train station. He used it to gently touch the young man's arm and found that it was as pliable as one of those rubber Halloween masks you always see hanging in shop windows. It made me sick. From the stricken looks on my friends' faces, it was obvious they'd reached the same conclusion as I; that the thing before us had somehow sucked the bones from the bodies.

"I backed up quickly, urging my friends to do so as well. My head hit the ceiling and I saw that it was now lower than it had been when we entered the carriage. I screamed that at them, feeling like the thin membrane between reason and panic was about to break.

"The thing suddenly lashed out at Donatello. It was fast, but training has made my friends faster. He leaped back and rather than grabbing his arm, it caught hold of his staff and broke it right in half.

"Don was on the ground, scrambling backwards to avoid the spindly bone limbs that were still reaching for him. His brother Leo always carries a big knife and began swinging it at those appendages, slicing through them with each sweep of his weapon.

"I swear to you, the thing _howled_. I don't know how; it had no mouth. His attack had the hoped for effect though, the thing stopped trying to grab at us.

"Leo urged us to retreat, his . . . knife held ready. I was practically duck-walking by the time I reached the opening. My friends, who are all larger than I, were crawling.

"We got out of that carriage and into the next, which was showing more signs of collapse. I ran for the exit, followed by the brothers. Raph had to jump in front of me to open the door because I couldn't, it was wedged too tight.

"Somehow we made it back to the carriage we'd first entered and then the one behind it, the sounds of rending metal following us the whole way. I've never run so fast in my life. I was afraid to look back for fear of seeing the ceiling collapse or the bone thing chasing us.

"We found the very last carriage and the exit. It would not open. No matter how hard they pulled on it, the brothers could not open that door. I was sure that we were trapped for good.

"Then Raph lost his temper." She laughed lightly. "He always calls Leo 'Fearless', a pet nickname, but Raph isn't afraid of much either, expect maybe of bugs. In situations where other people might feel fear, Raph gets mad. Don says everything ticks him off and I tend to agree.

"He too carries a knife. He pulled it and began stabbing the door and the lock, muttering curses under his breath. It wasn't my imagination that the train shuddered when he stabbed the door, nor did I imagine that I heard a moan of something akin to pain.

"His tantrum opened that door. It suddenly swung wide and to my fanciful mind it was almost telling us to get out. Leaping off of a moving train is not my idea of fun, but the idea of staying on that train was much worse.

"We jumped. Don wrapped his arms around me, using his body to cushion the landing, but I still received a nasty jolt as we hit the ground. I blacked out.

"I came to with Don leaning over me, gently patting my cheek. When I sat up I saw that we were back on the platform at King's Crossing. When I asked how we'd gotten there, Don told me that they didn't know. All four of them had lost consciousness as well and had awakened only a couple of minutes before I did.

"We were all covered in mud and dirt and I could feel it caking my hair. The feeling was disgusting and I would not be talked into further explorations. Mike backed me up and for once his more stubborn brothers listened. I was fairly certain that after Raph's attack on the train, it wasn't going to be showing up for us again anyway.

"That's pretty much the entire story. As I said, the bartender put me onto the Magnus Institute and online I learned that the institute researches paranormal happenings. We're returning to the U.S. tomorrow and I didn't want to leave knowing there would be no one else to battle . . . whatever this was. Investigate I mean, not battle."

Something slid across the floor and then came the sound of a fingernail tapping against hard plastic. "Be careful when you open this cooler," April instructed. "Don found something lying on the floor of the train when we were fleeing from the bone thing. He was careful not to touch it with his bare hands. After a little experimentation, he determined that it's best kept cold. If you allow it to get warm, it starts to move. You'll know why I brought it to you when you look at it."

There followed the sound of a chair scratching back and then April's voice again, from farther away as though she had just stood up.

"This experience hasn't made me fear subway trains. I'll continue to ride them as it's one of the best ways to get around in New York City. However, I won't board a train until after I've verified that there are plenty of other passengers, both exiting and entering. The only trains I'm afraid of are the invisible ones."

Light footsteps were recorded then, as well as the opening and shutting of the door, then the tape recorder snapped off.

The sound of the recorder coming on again was followed by the voice of Jonathan Sims. "Supplemental. I find myself more than a little curious about these friends with whom Ms. O'Neil claimed to travel. On Monday, Martin verified that an American named April O'Neil was indeed registered at the Tower Hotel during the month of November twenty-seventeen. However, according to their records, she was quite alone. There is no record of four young male siblings booked into the hotel during that same period. Perhaps they were at a different hotel, but finding it would take more work than is warranted by this statement. It is also possible that they were figments of Ms. O'Neil's imagination.

"I can't, however, dismiss Ms. O'Neil's account of her experience. Basira has checked the missing persons' records for this month and it does report that three people fitting the descriptions Ms. O'Neil gave are unaccounted for. Then there is the matter of the object inside the cooler.

"I must admit that it took me a couple of days to collect the courage to open the cooler. By the time I did, most of the ice had melted. Though it was still cool inside, the thing her friend Don had collected had begun to squirm.

"It was a bone. A rib bone to be exact. I saw right away why Ms. O'Neil believed that it belonged here. On its side in clear simple print it said 'J. Sims'.

"There is no doubt in my mind that Ms. O'Neil encountered Jared Hopworth, or whatever now passed for him. Was The Flesh now working with The Buried? Or had The Buried somehow trapped Jared and forced him to feed it, or perhaps work towards some ritual?

"Did Jared return the rib bone to me through this roundabout method as a warning of some sort, or was he asking to be rescued? He is not the sort to ask for anything, but I do know that he does not like to be trapped. I released him once, perhaps he thinks I will do so again.

"I don't know what I'm going to do with this information. The only thing I do know for certain is that I do not want this rib bone returned to my body. We have a freezer unit in Artifact storage and I am placing the bone in there. Far down in the bottom where no one else is likely to discover it.

"End supplemental."

Fin


End file.
